Thorpe, Domínguez lead Yankees' Organization All-Stars

Each offseason, MiLB.com goes position by position across each organization and honors the players -- regardless of age or prospect status -- who had the best seasons in each farm system. Next up in our 2023 Organization All-Stars series are the New York Yankees.

2023 organization summary:
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre: 73-75
Double-A Somerset: 84-53
High-A Hudson Valley: 70-62
Single-A Tampa: 61-69
FCL Yankees: 33-22
DSL NYY Yankees: 33-19
DSL NYY Bombers: 27-26
Overall record: 381-326 (5th among MLB organizations)
Midseason Farm System Rankings: 21

Yankees 2023 Organization All-Stars:

C: Ben Rice (NYY No. 23)
A/A+/AA: .324/.434/.615, 73 G, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 62 R, 44 BB, 11 SB
Rice had one of the best offensive years in the Minors and was named the Yankees’ Hitting Prospect of the Year in his first full season. Among Minor Leaguers with 300 plate appearances, the 24-year-old ranked first with a 183 wRC+. Rice hit .341 at High-A before missing two months with a back injury. After rehab, he went to Somerset and hit .327 with 16 homers in 48 games in the Eastern League.

1B: Andrés Chaparro
AAA: .247/.331/.444, 137 G, 25 HR, 89 RBI, 82 R, 65 BB, 4 SB
Chaparro has moved slowly through the Yanks’ system but has found some form of success at most every level. The 24-year-old, who plays both corner infield positions, bashed a personal-best 25 homers to earn his third consecutive Organization All-Stars honor. Yankees player development director Eric Schmitt noted that Chaparro made a point to cut down his chase rate and focus on swinging at better pitches inside the strike zone.

2B: Caleb Durbin
A+/AA: .304/.395/.427, 69 G, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 46 R, 26 BB, 36 SB
A strange ankle injury sidelined Durbin for two months, but he was back to his old self after returning in August. The 23-year-old hit .333 with an .870 OPS and seven steals in the final 20 games with Somerset. Durbin, who was traded from the Braves last offseason, had more walks than strikeouts (18) in the regular season. He’s currently making up for lost time with Mesa in the Arizona Fall League.

3B: Jesus Rodriguez
A/A+: .310/.399/.450, 109 G, 9 HR, 62 RBI, 66 R, 55 BB, 21 SB
Rodriguez only got better after a promotion to High-A, where he batted .356/.464/.533 with eight extra-base hits, 20 RBIs and nearly as many walks (17) as strikeouts (18) in 25 games. Typically a catcher by trade, the 21-year-old played four different positions, including left field and third base for the first time. He threw out 18 of 54 would-be base stealers behind the dish and committed nine errors at the hot corner.

SS: Jared Serna (NYY No. 20)
A/A+: .283/.350/.463, 122 G, 19 HR, 79 RBI, 90 R, 49 BB, 29 SB
The organization’s leader in total hits (144) also showed some surprising power for a player of his stature and was a tremendous run producer in his first full season. Signed for just $10,000 out of Mexico in 2019, Serna was unable to replicate that same power at the higher level, but he maintained his bat-to-ball prowess at Hudson Valley. Defensively, the 5-foot-6, 168-pounder will likely shift to second base full time as he climbs through the ranks.

OF: Spencer Jones (NYY No. 1, MLB No. 73)
A+/AA: .267/.336/.444, 117 G, 16 HR, 66 RBI, 71 R, 49 BB, 43 SB
Jones set himself apart with his speed this season, leading the organization in steals. The 6-foot-6 slugger lost some power to his near 50 percent ground-ball rate. But he showed that he could hit the ball with authority. Jones led the system with 29 doubles and should turn some of that gap power into more homers as he hits the ball in the air more, particularly to the pull side.

OF: Jasson Domínguez (NYY No. 2, MLB No. 74)
AA/AAA: .265/.377/.425, 118 G, 15 HR, 76 RBI, 89 R, 83 BB, 40 SB
The Martian touched down in The Show and homered off Justin Verlander in his first Major League at-bat. But before he got the call, Domínguez overcame a slow start with Somerset and caught fire before the All-Star break. The 20-year-old hit .419 in just nine Triple-A games but Schmitt said Domínguez proved he was ready for the big league opportunity during that time. Domínguez had Tommy John surgery last month but has already begun rehab.

OF: Everson Pereira (NYY No. 3, MLB No. 75)
AA/AAA: .300/.373/.548, 81 G, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 53 R, 32 BB, 11 SB
Pereira also found another gear at Triple-A, batting .312/.386/.551 with eight homers in 35 games with SWB before earning his first promotion to New York. The 22-year-old records extra-base hits at an impressive rate with consistent hard contact. Out of his 96 batted balls at Triple-A, 44 exceeded 95 mph. He even reached Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton territory with a max exit velocity of 114.5 mph.

RHP: Drew Thorpe (NYY No. 5, MLB No. 99)
A+/AA: 14-2, 2.52 ERA, 139 ⅓ IP, 182 K, 38 BB, .200 BAA, 0.98 WHIP
The 23-year-old was named Pitching Prospect of the Year at the inaugural MiLB Awards Show. Thorpe led all Minor Leaguers in strikeouts and ranked fourth in ERA among qualified hurlers. Schmitt made note of Thorpe’s intelligence on the mound, especially for someone in their first professional season. The 6-foot-4 hurler commands four pitches well – particularly his changeup, which he can throw in any count – and has improved the overall arsenal as he matures and adds velocity.

LHP: Brock Selvidge (NYY No. 13)
A/A+: 8-5, 3.45 ERA, 127 ⅔ IP, 137 K, 35 BB, .234 BAA, 1.18 WHIP
Pitching outside the Complex League for the first time this season, the 2021 third-rounder stayed consistent as he was promoted out of the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. Selvidge’s strikeout rate dipped, but he limited quality contact – .226 average and .617 OPS against – better at Hudson Valley than he did with Tampa. Schmitt also noticed a jump in velocity for the 6-foot-3 southpaw, who struck out seven over 6 ⅔ innings to earn the win in his lone playoff start.

RP: Jack Neely
A+/AA: 6-5, 7 SV, 2.17 ERA, 66 ⅓ IP, 100 K, 20 BB, .166 BAA, 0.89 WHIP
The towering 6-foot-8 right-hander dominated at two levels, attacking the strike zone with a powerful fastball-slider combination. No other pitcher in the Minors completed at least 60 innings with a K/9 greater than 13 and a walk rate lower than 8 percent. The 2021 11th-rounder was one of only seven pitchers to complete fewer than 70 innings and record at least 100 strikeouts this season.